Over the past three months, Apple’s iOS operating system and Google’s Android mobile platform both continued to grow — according to comScore, they now account for a combined 80.3% of the U.S. smartphone market. The research showed that 234 million Americans aged 13 and older use mobile devices. Samsung is the most popular manufacturer with a 25.6% share of the U.S. mobile market, followed by LG with a 19.4% share and Apple with 13.5%. Motorola and HTC round out the top five with 12.8% and 6.3%, respectively. More than 104 million Americans now own smartphones, up 14% from November, with Google Android’s operating system surpassing a 50% market share for the first time ever. Apple’s iOS platform ranked second with 30.2% of the smartphone market, followed by RIM with a 13.4% share, Microsoft at 3.9% and Symbian with 1.5%. ComScore’s press release can be found after the break.
comScore Reports February 2012 U.S. Mobile Subscriber Market Share
Android Captures Majority Share of U.S. Smartphone MarketRESTON, VA, April 3, 2012 – comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today released data from the comScore MobiLens service, reporting key trends in the U.S. mobile phone industry during the three month average period ending February 2012. The study surveyed more than 30,000 U.S. mobile subscribers and found Samsung to be the top handset manufacturer overall with 25.6 percent market share. Google Android continued to grow its share in the U.S. smartphone market, crossing the 50-percent threshold in February to capture a majority share for the first time in its history.
OEM Market Share
For the three-month average period ending in February, 234 million Americans age 13 and older used mobile devices. Device manufacturer Samsung ranked as the top OEM with 25.6 percent of U.S. mobile subscribers, followed by LG with 19.4 percent share. Apple captured the #3 ranking in February with 13.5 percent of mobile subscribers (up 2.3 percentage points), followed by Motorola at 12.8 percent. HTC moved into the #5 position in February at 6.3 percent (up 0.4 percentage points).
More than 104 million people in the U.S. owned smartphones during the three months ending in February, up 14 percent versus November. Google Android’s share of the smartphone market eclipsed 50 percent in February, an increase of 17 percentage points since February 2011. Apple ranked second with 30.2 percent of the smartphone market (up 5 percentage points versus year ago), followed by RIM at 13.4 percent, Microsoft at 3.9 percent and Symbian at 1.5 percent.
In February, 74.8 percent of U.S. mobile subscribers used text messaging on their mobile device, up 2.2 percentage points. Downloaded applications were used by 49.5 percent of subscribers (up 4.6 percentage points), while browsers were used by 49.2 percent (up 4.8 percentage points). Accessing of social networking sites or blogs increased 3.1 percentage points to 36.1 percent of mobile subscribers. Game-playing was done by 32.3 percent of the mobile audience (up 2.6 percentage points), while 24.8 percent listened to music on their phones (up 3.1 percentage points).
